Autism charity report finds exclusion of Autistic voices in school policies

Findings of AsIAm’s recent report reveals exclusion of Autistic voices in school policies.

AsIAm, Ireland’s Autism charity, published its latest report highlighting what they describe as “worrying discriminatory codes of behaviour towards Autistic school children in Ireland”.

The report named ‘What We Wish You Knew’ is a rights-based analysis of school codes of behaviour in Ireland, where the codes of behaviour in 40 schools country-wide were reviewed. It was conducted independently by Dr Amy Hanna and funded by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Grant Scheme.

It presents critical evidence of the failure to meet the rights of Autistic students under Irish school policies.

Sinn Féin spokesperson on Disability, Pauline Tully TD, who is also on the Joint Committee on Autism, is calling on the government to “publish its long-awaited guidelines on the use of seclusion and restraint in schools” and asked them to “engage constructively with Tulsa’s review of the statutory guidelines on Codes of Behaviour and urgently deliver on the issues presented in AsIAm’s report”.